Do it all daily sub £15k?

[markirl]

Hi folks,

Currently have an '07 BMW 530i which is a great car but with Brexit pending (I live in Ireland), I'm considering that it's time for a swap. I've generally driven 5 series size saloons or estates as my dailies over the last few years. We have a young family and this car is used for pretty much everything - approx 4-6k miles business travel (motorway/A road) and 6-10k miles private. Generally I look at cost of ownership rather than focusing on one particular cost i.e. MPG or tax - generally massive depreciation and terminal failure repair bills are my enemy. I do all my own maintenance and repairs on my cars and not afraid to get stuck into anything really. I generally prefer petrol due to an aversion to diesel idling vibrations but was happy enough with a 530d I had in the past and had an A8 and E320 cdi which was OK too from a refinement standpoint. Not a fan of 4 cylinder diesels but if someone knows of one that is refined as a 6cyl diesel then I'm all ears.

Reqs:
- ULEZ compliant
- Sub 155g/km CO2
- OK for 2 car seats in the back
- Decent to drive

Current shortlist consists of 2 models:
14/15 BMW 530d M Sport with 60-70k - comes in around €20k on the road here after import taxes. Competent all rounder, and should be reasonably reliable. Only downside is its a diesel
16 Mercedes c350e Sport Estate with 60k - €17k on the road here after import taxes. The low speed NVH refinement is tempting but not really sure on the package

The outlier is the G30 530e, but the value in late 530d F10s make that difficult to consider...

I've discounted anything Lexus has having owned a couple I know they're not for me (even though a GS300/450h is the perfect choice for me on paper). Would welcome suggestions!

[markirl]

Thanks all, you've pretty much confirmed my reservations on the c350e and as such I don't think I'll continue to consider one for now.

Thanks for the suggestions ZX but all the diesels appear to be non-ULEZ (you've picked the contenders that I had to get rid of for this reason!). Importing non-ULEZ is just not an option anymore due to a whopper NOX tax that has been introduced to stop non EU6 diesels being imported. All the others are too high co2 (again no value in importing)

Looks like import wise, the only option that fits my needs is the 530d. Alternatively, the following are available locally within budget:

13 plate A6 3.0 tdi quattro, 100k, €14k
14 plate XF 3.0d, 85k miles, €16k (I have always discounted these from engine bork factor risk, am I wrong?)
14 plate A6 Allroad, 85k, €20k
14 plate 530d M Sport, 115k miles, €18k

[markirl]

I like the XF but have reservations about their reliability, a friend in the business told me that the 3.0s can suffer the same issues as the 2.7 which concerned me.

Re the AHs, I like them but the reduced boot space kills it for me. The infinity models would have zero resale in Ireland so I'd just be burning my cash and I imagine is be bored quickly as I was with my GS450h and GS300 I owned.

I had discounted the F31 as I know I'd prefer an f10/f11

So shortlist now:
- F10/F11 530d
- XF 3.0d

Anything else?

[markirl]

A friend mentioned the TSI Superb in 1.4 or 2.0 flavour and certainly seems to be a contender, thoughts? Ideally an auto SEL wagon (which seem thin on the ground). From all I can read it's only downfall is a lack of driving excitement but I have an r53 and a 986 for excitement and considering most of my driving is motorway/a road or city/suburbs which speed checks everywhere I'm not too concerned by that point. Positive seems to be refinement, comfort, space, kit and interior quality ..